Life on Pause

At twenty years old, Eliot Dean was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. For weeks, his world shrank to a single hospital floor he couldn't leave — a window with a good view, a lot of sunsets, and the slow...

🎥 VIDEO EPISODE NOTE: This story was created for video and includes incredible visual moments from THON Weekend — from walking through Penn State's player cheer tunnel to experiencing the energy of 16,500 students in...

What happens when treatment ends but the journey continues? For young adult cancer survivors, the ringing of the bell marks not an ending, but the beginning of something more complex — survivorship. In this powerful...

What does health maintenance really mean when you're a young adult cancer survivor? Eliot and Hailey—both acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) survivors—share the reality of life after treatment: checkups every six...

When a Life Lion flight nurse saves a teenager's life, he never expects to meet him again. Ten years later, that young man returns—not as a patient, but as a father—to say thank you. Ten-year-old William, a leukemia...

Tony Campisi, a two-time cancer survivor, shares a story about hockey, resilience, and discovering that heaven doesn't have to look the same to still be heaven. Diagnosed with an astrocytoma tumor on his spinal cord at...

At twelve years old, Ariana was living for sports — two softball teams, church basketball, and constant motion. Then her knees started hurting. What seemed like a sports injury turned into an osteosarcoma diagnosis that...

Karen Powell, a nurse practitioner at Memorial Sloan Kettering who specializes in breast cancer care, returns for Part 2 to share the night everything changed: her own diagnosis at age 39. A lifelong runner, healthy...

Karen Powell, a Penn State graduate and nurse practitioner at Memorial Sloan Kettering, shares a deeply personal story that spans three generations of women affected by breast cancer. Diagnosed herself at age 39...

Ariana McDonell and Tony Campisi share how they turned their childhood cancer journeys into powerful designs for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. At just 12 years old, Ariana entered a t-shirt design contest that...

Taylor, Eliot, Shelly, and Tony share how something as simple as a cooking class can spark confidence, connection, and independence after cancer. Hosted at Zest! Cooking School in Lititz, Pennsylvania, this Life on...

Robyn, a 21-year-old from Lancaster County, was diagnosed with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia during her second year of college. What started as what she thought were boils and cold symptoms quickly turned into a...

Paige, a 15-year-old from Pennsylvania, was diagnosed with Burkitt’s leukemia at stage 3. After spending seven months in the hospital undergoing intensive treatment, she found herself withdrawn and unsure—until she met...

Emma, Lucas, Ariana, and Casey open up about what it’s really like to attend a cancer camp as a young adult. From fears about fitting in to late-night laughs and life-changing conversations, they share the moments that...

Mason, a 21-year-old from Iran, shares his remarkable story of fighting neuroblastoma for more than a decade. Diagnosed at age 7, Mason has faced multiple relapses, treatment resistance, and devastating...